That's been my experience too.
Clone B grows faster than most bridgesii for me with a couple of exceptions but it doesn't grow at the absurd rates that some hybrids can grow at. With some clones you can see visible new growth daily!

I did much the same thing. Trial and error works. If you count when my collection froze I have killed over 2000 plants, many flats of neglected seedlings and about 60 plants in larger containers.

Charcoal is a sweet treat for the plants.
Humic and fulvic acids are part of a healthy carbon cycle.

I've been blessed with being able to visit a number of collections in the past and consult other growers. I like to take a rule people accept and test it. Not infrequently I've learned some nice things that way.

I've also learned that people respond negatively to any suggestion they might be mistaken and they become infuriated if there is photographic evidence proving it. That kind of petty response is the norm for most cactus groups and forums and this place is the exception to the rule.

My experience is TBM short and long are the slowest growing bridgesii in my trichocereus collection minus 1 bridgesii that in inherited for free that has very little life force.

Wow 2000 plants killed. That’s quite the hit.

Visiting large diverse collections is always something I make time for. The last one was quite the treat. This weekends cacti garden road trip I hope the same.

“Pachanoi and peruvianoids grow near Matucana Peru. This area has virtually zero annual precipitation as well.”

My buddy has been tracking to matucana for several years now, spending a week at a time minimum. We speak often about different cacti and environments we have traveled too . Including at certain times of the year it will rain daily in the sleepy town and surrounding valleys of Matucana. Small Rivers at the valley bottom become raging rivers of swift water.

I was merely relating the annual weather data available online.

The long form monstrose bridgesii in my collection is pretty slow growing for me.

One I had a decade ago barely grew at all and after a couple of seasons I got rid of it for that reason.

The bridgesii I grew from seed tended to be some of the slower plants compared to the hybrids but a few named clone bridgesii did grow fast. I wonder about heterosis and somatic mutations. I know several people have claimed that more than one clumping monstrose bridgesii exists. I've yet make that observation but that doesn't mean it is inaccurate.b

I water and feed nearly daily when during the growing season.
I'll document the growth rates of my present specimen and we will see if it slows down at some point. So far it's been growing rather quickly but it was indoors with 26,000 lumens and 16 hours of light per day for several months and everything grows well in those conditions.

Hey Texastricho, thanks for the long post with all the info. O_o: I'll try that - water and feed more frequently ,but lightly. So far, I had rather strong feeds every months or so - like it says on the fertilizer pack...

So, I tried this. Some in shade, some in the sun. Those in full sun yellowed, even though they're in the shadow from 16.00 on. Quite easy to spot which one is which:

Mine do well when planted with an east facing exposure. The east side of a wall or fence or tree, etc. That way they get sun until a little past mid day, and then shade for the rest of the day. 1pm - 5pm when the temp is hottest seems to be when the sun really stresses them and turns them yellow. I've seen big nurseries growing trichos under shade cloth, especially younger plants.

Yeah, it seems to me that the TBM are somewhat more fragile in this regard. I have 2 year old seedlings in a position where they get much more sun than the TBM had before I removed it from the sun, and they're fine.

Its going to depend on your local climate conditions. I'm in a very hot desert climate so they need more shade here than elsewhere. Keep experimenting and find which light/shade conditions work best where you are. General rule of thumb is that the hotter it gets the more they will benefit from shade during the hottest time of day.

Allright. So I just trimmed one of the Bridges somewhat. I did what I threatened doing in post #8 - I took these two pieces off, that's four segments. They weigh in at 95g and 120g respectively.

With any other tricho, I'd say, even 250g is too little to even bother. But since these are supposed to be stronger, does anyone think that it might be risky to consume four segments?

It's hard to imagine, thinking that even 250g regular Bridgesii will be a threshold dose at best. And while I realize no one knows how much mesc is in these four segments, I'd appreciate any input in how you would proceed.

Greetings

I have no idea if the rumours are true about monstrose being stronger. I kinda use 400 -500 grams fresh Bridgesii as my reference. I'd brew up at least 400 grs of it and see how it compares to the same amount of some other Bridgesii. It's mescaline, and even if it was three times as strong you'd probably have fun with it. Mescaline is pretty forgiving with dosage that way.

NOTE: The above statement was regarding regular no-name Bridgesii, as I have done several times. Based on new info that seems like a massive overshoot for a dosage of Bridgesii Monstrose, so don't do that.

Thanks for your input. Yeah, 400ish g is what I would have seen as a "standard dose". (Yes, certainly the mescaline content in 400g cactus flesh can vary significantly).

The thing is, I've seen recommendations to not go beyond 2 segments. But for this, the potency would have been several times as much as regular bridgesii... which seems doubtful, at best. This is why it would be appreciated to have someone's experience.

Until further notice, the plan is to let the pieces meditate in silent darkness for a few weeks, which worked well for my Cuzco cuttings. Then I'll do my dual approach: boil the skin and core, and freeze-blend-eat raw the rest. Thinking of these 4 segments as one dose, unless someone recommends do go lower. Psychedelics have a rather strong effect on me, 100ug of acid send me on a respectable trip. But I've had 20-30 trips, and always was able to handle myself. Probably the 220g of monster will be a rather medium sized trip... but who knows

EDIT: Or maybe five segments, after all?

Hey guys...not to interrupt the beautiful convo going on...I only read a little into it cause I am kinda lost on a lot. I have only taken regular bridgesii multiple times and have a couple growing ornamental of course now of course roaming through suppliers i have seen "penis plant, montros, mutant" ect but never learned the differences with the tech terms like TBM clone a or b ect. Would anyone mind explaining the terms of wich is wich OR even better yet any one got links to where i can read up and see pics so i can know exactly what each one looks like....once i know that i could read this whole thread alot better AND be able to identify things on supplier sites especially since you guys are saying they are mis labeled a lot!! thanks guys!

It's quite simple: There is:

1) Regular columnar type Bridgesii which we all know and love.

and two type of monstrose:

2) Short type, like what i posted
3) Long type, which is known as penis cactus

Which one of 2) and 3) is "type A" and "type B" is sometimes subject to confusion. But there are these two types, which can be easily be kept apart from their appearance. So, in case of doubt, just remember that there is the short type and the long type.

Here is some good info on the two:

http://mail.cactus-art.biz/schede/TRICHOCEREUS/Trichocereus_bridgesii/Trichocereus_bridgesii_mostruosa_A/Trichocereus_inemis_mostruosus_inemis_A.htm

http://mail.cactus-art.biz/schede/TRICHOCEREUS/Trichocereus_bridgesii/Trichocereus_bridgesii_mostruosa_B/Trichocereus_inemis_mostruosus_inemis_B_penis_cactus.htm

GREAT! thank you! another one I was curious about is the crested one's seen them on supply sites to....I can look up more about them but are they any good? some one had told me no and some one told me yes so I was thinking maybe the potency widely varies but never looked to much into them

Uhm. No idea I always considered crested (and variegated) cacti as rare collector's items. As far as I know, you can have crested mutations from every trich out there, so the yield will drastically depend in the individual's genes.

Ok yeh not much into about potency on crested ones out there and usually they are different from different reports....most of the ones available from what I see anyway are san pedro…..thank you for the info!! now I got some reading and research to do

Thing is - crested ones are so cherished by collectors that if I had one, I'd be sure to give it to one of them, since my appreciation of trichos is rather unconcerned of such superficialities

And getting high on a variegated specimen would be like using a stash of blue mauritius to start a campfire lol

Have fun doing research Let us know what you find out.

Hmm... are there others who have experience with short form monsters?

OK, I dun it. Spoiler Alert: Don't, seriously, DON'T underestimate the monsters like I did. I finished the tea 12 hours ago and the effects are still VERY strong, with only a moderate decline.

So I had 227g of fresh meat of well-watered segments, two of which were old, 2 from this year (all included in that weight). Thought, this is so little, would not have been surprised by a moderate or underwhelming experience. Was neither ready nor prepared for what was about to unleash on me. I have received a thundering lesson in humility by having a massive experience that took all my experience as both a psychonaut and seasoned meditator AND the help of an experienced guide for the last 12 hours to keep things together.

With all this, it was very difficult, but positive in the end. But I have had a truly mindbending experience. Caz- and O_o were spot on. By far the most challenging experience I have ever had. Absolutely stunning in terms of absolute raw power.

EDIT: Experience report here: https://www.dmt-nexus.me...1016485&#post1016485

EDIT 2: It's now been 15 hours since I began drinking the tea, and only now do I feel a true decline in mesc intensity. Still coming on quite strongly though - just that I sense now it is getting less. Wow! I mostly was able to go to sleep 12 hours after ingesting a psycheledic. Today really was exceptional.

TBM potency is confirmed in this recent article (paragraph 3.3.7):

https://zenodo.org/record/6409376#.Ym_Z7dpByUk